"Be careful," he warned, unsure if she could even hear. "You'll hurt yourself. Perhaps we should get you inside—"
"Lord Foley?" she asked, and her brows shot wide. "I didn't see you arrive. Where is your carriage?"
His stomach twisted. Of everyone she could have mistaken him for...why him? Elmore bit back a scathing remark as he let go of Aurora's shoulders and took a hesitant step back.
Although the leaves had long since burned out, Mr. Washam still removed them from Aurora's presence. He dumped the ashes into a small bag and set the plate beside it to be washed.
"I know it won't help," he said with a sigh, "but I don't want her standing on it."
A fair judgement. With it gone, Elmore took the chance to kneel in front of Aurora and watch her face. Her face was pink, but he surmised it wasn't the redness of a coughing fit about to start. No, it was the pleasant flush of somebody who had drank too much wine, paired with wide, black pupils and a faint smile.
As he went to stand, though, Aurora's hands shot out to grab his. She was small, but her grip was vice-like enough tohurt.When Elmore tried to pull away, Aurora's little smile turned strained.
"There's only one man that I love," she stated to Elmore. Or was she still speaking to 'Foley'? "And it took me too long to realize that I did, which I'm sorry to say. Elmore is such a lovely and wonderful man, one I fear I misjudged — but Idolove him, no matter how we started out."
His chest flipped, heart stuttering against his ribs. This time, he managed to slide his hand from Aurora's grip, almost reluctant in the action.
Yet no matter how much he wanted this, no matter how much he had yearned to hear a confession, this wasn't fair to Aurora. She didn't even know who she was speaking to! So he resisted the growing urge to kiss her, and instead stepped back.
"Mr. Washam, could you get Aurora a glass of water?"
"Elmore, are you sure you don't want to talk about this?"
About what, that Aurora loved him? She was hallucinating from a bad reaction to the angel's trumpet; how was he to know she even meant it? It was too much for him to hope for, and he couldn't focus on that right now when she needed help.
"Don't you understand?" Aurora snapped suddenly, jolting Elmore enough to make him stumble. "I love Elmore, nobody else. He's the only one I'll ever marry. He has done so much for me, been so kind even when I don't deserve it, and I'll never want to be with anybody else."
This was too much. Elmore felt his hands shaking even as he stuffed them inside his pockets, and he couldn't bring himself to look at Mr. Washam, because Elmore knew that he was being watched. He had to appear calm, not just for Mr. Washam’s sake but so that the Duke wouldn’t know what was going wrong.
Then Aurora looked him directly in the eyes, her own bright and wide, and said, "I'll never tell him, but Elmore is the love of my life."
Chapter 33
Aurora Washam
Aurora didn't knowhowLord Foley was here — she didn't want to know, because how dare he come toher homeout of nowhere and start throwing around accusations!
He was bent in front of her now, resting on his haunches as he peered at her. Lord Foley was even more horrible up close, his beady eyes boring into her, a slimy smile crawling up his lips.
"You and I are to be married," he stated, and that awful smile grew. "You already agreed, Aurora, in return for my sponsorship. Or are you a woman who often goes back on her word?"
Her skin crawled with a thousand pins and needles. There was something about Lord Foley's face that she couldn't pinpoint, an uneasy look that made him feel not quite real. It was as if Aurora was looking at a dream, but the uncomfortable sensation flickering across her skin was very real.
"I won't marry you," she hissed. Father and Elmore were gone and now the Duke was too, she had no need to pretend now. For the first time since meeting him, Aurora could tell Lord Foley exactly how she felt. "I love Elmore, and nobody else. Nothing in the entire world could make me change my mind — no amount of money or sponsorships, not even if you paid for our entire project,Lord Foley."
Was it her imagination, or was Lord Foley taller than she remembered? She didn't remember him towering over her quite like this, because he had always been a squat sort of man. Far less intimidating than he appeared to wish to be. Yet now, he seemed twice as tall, so enormous that Aurora had to crane her neck just to meet his eyes.
He said something that Aurora couldn't understand, but his lips didn't move. Was somebody else speaking? That was impossible, because they were the only ones there.
Lord Foley was still speaking, but Aurora no longer cared because the Duke was back. Yet, he wasn't alone; Father was there, his arms crossed as he spoke in an impatient voice.
"I appreciate that you are interested in funding us," Father said crossly, "but now is not the time. Aurora is sick, and the angel's trumpet—"
“But this is incredible! I don’t believe that a plant could really do this,” the Duke said incredulously.
Beside her, Lord Foley was still speaking in that horrid, squeaky voice of his. Yet he was walking towards the Duke now too, his expression furious.
The Duke was smiling. Why was he doing that? "This is fantastic," he gushed, "so interesting! May I observe Aurora?"